B&W 685 Boom Boom Boom

[AwArEnEsS]

At last I bought a receiver and have listened to B&W 685 at my home yesterday. One of first things I noticed was that it was too boomy.First I thought I may like some boom,but after continuing to listen,I started thinking that it is too much boomy.

Is it cause the speakers are very intimate to wall?They are standing on a computer desk/table and between the speakers and the wall(behind the speakers) there is a mushroom board.I tried putting the speakers on the floor,there was a window behind one of the others and there was half window half glass behind the other speaker, moving the speakers a bit further from the wall,I think boominess didn't change much,also I didn't like the sound cause it was a lot below ear level.

May there be resonance problems in the room?

Is there something I can do for preventing boominess?There is a plastic bag which came with the box.It contains some things,maybe they are plugs,I am not sure.I heard that plugs come with B&W 683,but not sure if they come with B&W 685.The B&W booklet doesn't mention anything about plugs,or it espaced my attention.Also I didn't understand where should I put the plugs on.

[ryan.devry]

Personally I don't believe the 685's are a "boomy" speaker. They have good base for a speaker, but not "boomy." I even went out and bought the asw608 because I wanted more base.......lol......but that is my opinion.

I would bet it would be more with the speaker placement, height of the speaker, and how close you are sitting to them while your listening.

What receiver did you pick up.........

Just a side note......good stands will change the sound of a speaker compared to being in an Entertainment Center or on a shelf/cabinet.........

[David Meek]

Plugs will definitely help with some aspects of booming although using them will cut your bass extension a bit.

However, if the primary cause of the boominess is room/furniture interaction you'll need to break those interactions, too. Moving the speaker to the floor isn't going to help much especially if the flooring is carpet, plus as you noticed you get that weird "from your shoes" sound location. Setting them directly on a desk or shelf can cause the desk cavities to resonate (like a nearby wall) causing boominess.

Invest in a good pair of steel stands, preferrably some that allow you to fill the legs with some inert material like steel shot (BBs) or dry, clean sand. Move them out away from the walls at least 18" or so wi th the height set to have the tweeters the same height as your ears and see how they sound. You might try toeing the speakers in so that they aim at a point a little behind you head when you are in your main seating position.

Hope this helps.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.I can't buy a stand for now.I may try using plugs,David where should I put the plugs on?

[Briz vegas]

The 685 has a port on the front at the bottom (behind the grill). You will have been provided with 2 foam plugs that will fit neatly into the port,

The port is there to extend the bass performance of the speaker and can be plugged to reduce the boom in situations like yours.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.

Why the port on the front cause boominess cause it is too intimate to wall?Or is it not related to being too intimate too wall?

How can I take out the grilles ?
Also,if I take the grilles out,can I put the grilles on back then?

[Briz vegas]

The walls are loading up the bass. The further you locate the speaker from a wall/floor/ceiling the less the bass is influenced by that surface. Thats why stands are good for giving the speaker space while also providing a solid platform to sit on.

Bass is a tricky animal that likes to hide near walls and particularly in corners. You will notice that if you listen standing in the corner of a room you will hear more bass compared to standing in the middle of the room.

If you have a system capable of lots of bass you will find this becomes more of an issue. Bass is produced by moving lots of air, as you would imagine the 685 is fairly modest in the amount of air it can move.

grills - There are little plastic pins at each corner. Just gently pull the grill out a little at each corner until it is free - it will be a little stiff. putting the grill back on is just a matter of lining up the pins with the holes and pushing in.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.

I removed the grill.I found that the foam is very little and the port is big compared to the foam.I tried putting my finger into the port to control if it gets small at a deeper level,but no it is always bigger than the foam.If I would drop the foam into the port,it would get past the port and reach to electronic components.

Is there a picture of the suitable foam for 685?

[AwArEnEsS]

Or information about size of the suitable foam?

I tried moving the speakers about 2.0m-2.5m away from the wall,and the result is same.Still boom boom,very boomy.

[hifiguymi]

There are two parts to the foam inserts that come with those speakers. It sounds like you have the smaller insert that goes into a bigger one. There are pictures of them in the manual.

Eric

[AwArEnEsS]

I looked at the manual again.

I couldn't find the picture of the foams.Unfortunately,I have read that there should be 2 foam plugs,8 rubber pads and 4 stand-offs in the box.I saw something which are 8 items so there are rubber pads,I saw 4 items of something so there are stand-offs,but there are nothing which are 2 items,so seems like foam plugs are missing :cry:

What should I do now?Where can I find these foam plugs?

[Glen B]

At last I bought a receiver and have listened to B&W 685 at my home yesterday. One of first things I noticed was that it was too boomy.

Assuming the receiver has tone controls, how do you have the bass set ? At the flat position or boosted ?

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer Glen.Bass is set to flat,"0".

For trying,I set the bass to "-6",now there is less boominess although still I hear some which still bothers me.

[AwArEnEsS]

In the manual it says"If the speakers are to be stood on a shelf or furniture unit the adhesive pads supplied may be used."

How can I use these adhesive pads?Should I put them/stick them under the corners of speakers?

[theblue]

you need the plugs as others have said... it does sound like you only have the middle part of the two part foam plug. If you have lost the outside part call your local dealer and they normally have extras sitting around or can get you some for cheap.

beyond that I would say take the speakers (since they are small enough) to a friend's place and try them on his/her setup to see if it's your room or source. You could even take them to your local B&W dealer and hook them up to their setup and ask them questions if you still hear the boom.

sticking them to your desk is a good final step, but won't solve your problem.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.

I want to add that,a short time ago I turned my attention onto television's sound,I noticed a similar problem,and it is too much noticable again.The television is mounted on a piece of furniture which is mounted on wall.

My room was a garage,then it was enclosed to a room.I am not sure if this may give resonance problems.Also there are big windows(I don't if it's a bad or good thing)

[AwArEnEsS]

I listened to my computer speakers again to test,and noticed that exact same problem with it too.I remembered that when I started hearing booms I was turning the computer speakers volume down.I was thinking that my computer speakers were incapable of loud volume that's why I was hearing booms.

[AwArEnEsS]

So it should tame the booms if I use a plug like you said,right?

[1oldguy]

A severe case of what boom boom can do.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTkxODEyOTUyNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNzUxNzU2._V1._SX266_SY400_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1413912576/ch0038213&usg=__2JQCM0lvlhgaDmLGiiIDnCzfiag=&h=400&w=266&sz=29&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=oOSajzFoa-Nh4M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfreddie%2Bboom%2Bboom%2Bwashington%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

[dknightd]

plugs should help. Anything will do - stuff a pair of socks in there and see if you can hear the difference. Also, make sure any special sound settings are disabled on your computer. Even small changes can have an effect - for example try putting the speakers on a few books to get them off the desktop.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.I tried the book and socks methods,but I think there is still a problem.Also I rechecked that there is no special effect enabled in the settings of the computer.

Cause my music knowledge is bad,maybe I am describing it wrong.What I hear is, something like vibration at low frequencies,I don't mean the "punches" of course.

[dknightd]

Did it make a difference?

Music is by definition a vibration.

I don't know what you listen to. Do you have some songs that boom boom, and other that do not? It could be that is the way they are supposed to be.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer.A few minutes ago I tried a song (which causes that problem very much) with my headphone.I noticed that song doesn't have that problem with my headphone,but also there is no bass although I feel bass with my speakers(by bass I mean punch)When I set the bass to "-6" from my receiver,speakers come a bit closer to my headphone but still the problem exists.(my headphone is connected to the computer directly via usb)

[duketbrd88]

Just take the speakers back to your dealer. After 23 posts, none of this is making sense. I'm not trying to be rude or mean, but every speaker has some BOOM BOOM. It sounds like you are just having a difficult time trying to describe your situation. It sounds to me that you are not happy with your speakers and i would take them to the dealer and sit down and have a talk about what is going on and get something you like. Every B&W speaker i have had from the 600series to my current 804S speakers i have loved the sound since day one. I don't understand how you can compare headphones to stand alone speakers. Best of luck to you. Mike

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answer Mike.Maybe the problem is,I don't know what a speaker does or not.In our car I hear the same booms,at a live music(open air) in a holiday village I heard similar booms,so maybe you are right,every speaker may have those.You said me that how I compare speakers with headphones.It's cause I don't know what I should expect from a speaker exactly.Also it was an answer to the dknightd's question
"Do you have some songs that boom boom, and other that do not? It could be that is the way they are supposed to be."

If I had a friend who has knowledge about sound it would be great,I would invite him and ask the problem about it,but I don't have.

[Ken49r]

My room was a garage,then it was enclosed to a room.

Find other rooms in the house and clap your hand to see if it echoes. Also do a voice test as well. The room that sounds the most natural sounding you should try your setup there to see if the speakers don't sound better - using all the tips given in this thread of course.

[ryan.devry]

when am looking at buying a speaker orjust auditioning a new set, I want something that most accurately sounds like the music group is right in front of me......to me that is the ultimate goal...have you ever heard a live performance......maybe not a concerte...but something acustic with just an acustic guitar and vocals....how does that sound to u


then if we are talking about vibrations make sure the rubber pads supplied are on the bottom of the speaker.....if ur not sure what I mean pm me ur phone number or email and I can send you a picture mine.....

hope this help

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.

Ken49r,when I clap my hands in my room,I think there is no echo or at least I am not able to notice it.For being able to try in other rooms,I need a coaxial/Rca cable to be able to connect the receiver to my dvd player or our notebook computer.It is now connected to my pc in my room.I think I will buy the cable soon.

Ryan.devry,I know what you mean by rubber pads.Today I tried sticking them under the speakers,but nothing has changed.

I hear live music(open air) in summers in a holiday village,and I notice the similar boominess there too.


I have listened to a few other musics in which I notice that boominess while listening with speakers,with my headphone.I noticed that similar boominiess with headphone too,although maybe some less(but my headphone's volume can't reach to my speakers,so this may explain why it's a bit less noticable)so maybe it's normal like dknightd said, maybe that's the way they are supposed to be :wtf:

[PewterTA]

Is all the music and the bloated bass coming from songs that are played off the computer? Can you hook a CD player or listen to the radio on your Processor and see if the sound is still the same.

I know i had an issue with a PC a while ago that everything was set to normal and there was a real bad "surround" sound issue from any speakers or outputted to my receiver. Drove me nuts because the sound sounded like I had one of the speaker cables crossed giving the inverted sound like it's coming from everywhere. Eventually I found that some setting that had nothing to do with the sound outputting itself was turned on and when I turned it off in the Creative Labs software it caused the problem to go away. The next version of the software (upon a clean wipe of the PC and reinstall of windows - due to another issue) fixed the problem and I didn't have the same issue after that.

So what I'm saying/asking is does this sound seem to be related to the computer playing music only or is it any source what so ever going into the processor.

Also how do you have everything connected up to your processor? If it's all connected with analog connections can you set the processor to some type of By-pass or Straight-through so that it does NO processing to the signal. See if that clears things up.

It could be that the processor is applying some type of Dolby Pro Logic IIx - Hall/Studio/Room effect to the signal before it sends it out to the speakers.

[Briz vegas]

I am beginning to wonder if the sound system is the problem.

Its starting to sound like you are finally hearing what your music actually sounds like. There is plenty of modern music (last 20 or 30 years) that is all about driving bass.

Getting a good hifi can change your taste in music, as can the simple process of getting a bit older and hearing more variety in music.

[AwArEnEsS]

Thanks for your answers.

I think I started getting accustomed to the booms.Now I feel like these booms maybe normal.

I may try them with a different source,like PewterTA said.I have already tried them with Tv,but I haven't checked the booms.

[kalleboo]

Thanks for your answer.

I removed the grill.I found that the foam is very little and the port is big compared to the foam.I tried putting my finger into the port to control if it gets small at a deeper level,but no it is always bigger than the foam.If I would drop the foam into the port,it would get past the port and reach to electronic components.

Is there a picture of the suitable foam for 685?